Alyson Hannigan,
How I Met Your Mother
In 2008, Alyson Hannigan, who plays Lily on CBS’s
How I Met Your Mother, announced she was pregnant. Two weeks later, her co-star, newcomer Cobie Smulders, did the same, and a massive (and literal) coverup effort ensued. The actresses carried large purses, wore loose clothes, and were shot from forgiving angles. After a while, however, the show’s creators couldn’t resist
a joke: They put Lily in an eating contest—after which she flashed her pregnant stomach.
Lucille Ball,
I Love Lucy
Life imitated art for the first Queen of Comedy: When Lucille Ball was five months' pregnant, she wove it into the plot on
I Love Lucy, too. But in 1952, CBS forbade the word “pregnant” from being uttered on the show—nodding to Ricky Ricardo’s Latin heritage— so they named the episode “Lucy Is
Enciente” instead. When Lucy decided to break the news to Ricky—portrayed by real-life husband Desi Arnaz—during a show at the Tropicana Club, he breaks into the song “We’re Having a Baby,” and the episode ends with both characters shedding real tears of joy.
Jane Leeves,
Frasier
Instead of writing the English actress’s real-life pregnancy into the show in 2000, her character Daphne simply gained a lot—a
lot—of weight. She blamed her expanding waistline on a stressful relationship with Frasier’s slightly neurotic brother Niles, played by David Hyde Pierce. The baby wasn’t his, but the couple still had a happy ending.
Sarah Jessica Parker,
Sex and the City
The famously petite, midriff-baring Carrie Bradshaw hit a roadblock when Sarah Jessica Parker became pregnant in 2002. Producers shot the first few episodes of Season 5 (with Carrie in billowing—but still überchic—clothes), but it became too unrealistic for the tiny actress to keep up the front, and the show had to unexpectedly suspend production in midseason.
Ana Ortiz,
Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty star Ana Ortiz is pregnant in real life, but her sassy, single beautician character isn’t. “They aren't going to be writing it into the show, so I guess Hilda will be carrying a lot of boxes and standing behind her salon chair,” Ortiz has
said. Anything to distract viewers from Betty’s unfortunately clashing fashion choices.
Kelly Rutherford,
Gossip Girl
Lily van der Woodsen may have juggled a few different men on this season of
Gossip Girl, but after a snooze-worthy adoption storyline earlier this season, the last thing the show needs is a paternity scandal. So when Rutherford announced that she was expecting, the cinematographers had to get creative. Empire waists, trench coats, and shots from the shoulder up have helped keep Lily’s secret, so you can take a deep breath, Serena: You’re not getting another little brother.
Jill Scott,
No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
Joyous event, bad timing. On her way to Botswana to film HBO’s
No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, soulful singer and novice actress Jill Scott discovered she was pregnant. The crew shot the episodes away in order to get Scott on film before her baby bump was visible. The African heat was a challenge for Scott, but she surrounded herself with great doctors. “There was a lot of pressure to get the job done, even between morning sickness,” she
said.
Ellen Pompeo,
Grey’s Anatomy
Does McDreamy make deliveries? Ellen Pompeo, who plays Meredith—the mopey surgeon wannabe on ABC’s
Grey’s Anatomy—recently announced her pregnancy. Meredith and her TV love, played by Patrick Dempsey (and his exceptional head of hair), also just became engaged on-screen, but it’s too early to know whether they’ll work 39-year-old Pompeo’s pregnancy into the show. Meanwhile, those loose-fitting scrubs will buy her some time. And what better location for a real pregnancy than a fake hospital, right?
